Afterglow

Tree decorations, LA Marathon style. This photo is actually a revelation for me. There is a balloon on the lower left with the number 4:15. After months of training and reliving the last marathon I learned what that number means :-)

First it means that I was standing way too far in front. That balloon, my friends, is the 4:15 mph pace group.

Second, I was race walking, had no business being there with the runners.

When the race started, I went with the pack. Ha, ha! My race walking form was really good, I was passing runners left and right. That lasted for all of 7 miles, that's when I hit the wall (this is not supposed to happen until the 20th mile. First my right leg cramped up. So I decided that moving to the side of the road would be a good idea to work out the kink. Of course my left leg cramped at that very instant. Now I'm just standing in the middle of the road, unable to move for what seemed an eternity.

The pain finally went away and I was on my way again, albeit at a much slower pace. Any time I started feeling like I could faster, my legs reminded me that I was just kidding myself. Do you know what is like to go 19 miles with cramp pains. Not fun. But I must say, I was determined to finish and so I did. I was crying by the end. Guess you could say it was the feminine side coming out :-)

I was done, passed the finish line, get some grub, go home and reminisce. Nope, that's when I got lost, I just could not seem to get to the area where my son was supposed to pick me up. I headed, unknowingly away from the area (a bit disoriented I guess), I finally realized my mistake and walked another mile by the time I was done.

I had so much fun! I'm doing it again this year, although hopefully not quite the same way.